"Wakey-wakey, Starr!"
"It is six in the morning, psycho!" Starr hissed from under the covers as Langston came skipping into her room the next morning.
"And I have been up waiting to talk to you since five, I have been very patient, but it's time for you to get up now so we can talk properly before school! Can you start by telling me why you were lame and left a note explaining everything that happened last night on my computer instead of just waiting up to tell me?"
"Uh, maybe because I don't want to talk about it and thought you might get the hint that way," Starr grumbled, tossing the covers down but throwing her arm across her eyes, squinting pain fully as Langston flipped the lightswitch.
"What? No, Starr, come on, this is huge! We have to talk about it! You have to tell me every detail; how did he look at you, did he touch you at all, how did he say-"
"Langston, no," Starr hissed fiercely, abruptly moving her arm and rolling over to look her friend directly in the eyes. "This is why I didn't want to talk about it! You're going to overanalyze everything and drag it out, and I don't want to do that, I just want to forget it and move on."
"What?" Langston spluttered, shaking her head. "Starr, are you kidding? Your ex-boyfriend, mr. sober living, works part time as a drug counselor, relapsed last night, had some very weird, suspicious behavior towards you, and you don't even want to-"
"It wasn't suspicious, he was drunk! He would have been like that with anyone!"
"I highly doubt Schuyler would have been nuzzling my hair or making comments about always making me cry if I had been the one to find him. And you never even found out why he got drunk in the first place! We really should-"
"Look, Langston, if you're going to be evil and wake me up at six in the morning, what I want to talk about is whatever had you so angry last night," Starr began innocently, totally baiting Langston to distract her. "Did that resolve itself, or-"
"Uh, no, it certainly did not!" Langston suddenly snapped, her face hard and angry as she instantly forgot the Schuyler drama, plopping down onto the bed beside her friend as she dramatically eyed her. "Starr, we need to quickly get together an alibi and bail money, because I'm murdering Lola today."
"Uh-oh, what happened?" she laughed easily, assuming her friend was being melodramatic as she often was.
"Turns out, that while I've been taking her in, making her feel like family, making her feel welcome, that little slut has been trying to steal Markko from me!"
"What?" Starr gasped in shock, bolting upright in the bed; she seriously had not been expecting that. "Oh, ugh, I knew something was up, I always had a bad feeling about her!"
"I should have trusted your instincts, but stupid me, I was just too happy to have a cousin," Langston muttered darkly, shaking her head. Starr sympathetically squeezed her shoulder. "That's why Markko didn't tell me anything about what she was doing, actually," she sighed sadly, though she smiled slightly thinking of her boyfriend. "He didn't want to tell me because he knew how happy I was to have blood family- he didn't want to ruin it. But, I found out everything last night when I walked in on the tramp cornering my poor, defenseless boyfriend, jamming her tongue down his throat! She tried to make it sound like he was coming on to her, which- uh, yeah right bitch," Langston scoffed. Starr sighed sadly, recalling when she'd seen Stacy kiss Schuyler all those weeks ago and had had similar faith in her boyfriend, had been so convinced Stacy wasn't a threat and that she didn't need to worry. "Apparently, she's been hitting on him practically since the moment they met, and that's like, the third time she's kissed him."
"What a whore!" Starr scoffed, feeling her anger towards Stacy spreading to Lola. Langston looked at her knowingly, understanding where much of the anger behind that remark was coming from.
"I know, right?! We are, like, surrounded by sluts, Starr, and I personally am getting tired of it. So, Lola spent the night at a friend's house last night, like a huge coward, but it's okay, because she'll have to show her face at school at some point, and when she does, she will die," Langston told her calmly. Starr looked at her hesitantly.
"I'm sure you are, but just to be safe, I have to ask…you're just ranting, right? You're not going to really start something with Lola at school, right?" Langston just gave her a look, and Starr groaned. "Lang, come on! Why? Markko has been perfectly faithful to you, nothing's happened, and you know the truth now, so just let it go!"
"Nope, not an option," she told her in a clipped tone. "If I let her just get away with this, she'll keep trying, and when Markko still doesn't want her skanky ass, she's going to get more and more upset, and when she finally realizes that she's never going to have my boyfriend, she's going to try to ruin my life instead; since a certain someone wasn't awake to talk to me and distract me, I had a lot of time to think this over last night!"
"Langston, you could get hurt, you could get in serious trouble, and for what? Violence doesn't solve anything!"
"Uh, I'm so not going to get hurt, I can take her, and I'm willing to accept the trouble so I can teach Lola a lesson and put her in place; you just have to do it once and then they learn, Starr, violence totally solves things- trust me."
"You're not going to get trust from me while you're contemplating murder, sorry," Starr giggled, though she eyed Langston with a look that let her know she was serious.
"Look, it's not like I'm asking you to watch or something, just don't try to stop me."
"I think we both know I'm going to, no matter what you say."
"Well, have fun trying," Langston said simply with a laugh, her tone not unkind, just honest. "We're obviously not going to reach an agreement here, so come on, let's go get breakfast."
Starr glanced at her alarm clock and groaned, swatting Langston with her pillow.
"Breakfast at six in the morning," she groused playfully. "I shouldn't even be up yet. You are so lucky that I love you."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you coming to, finally? Schuy, let me tell you, you are so lucky that I love you, because you just looked…ew last night; that's why I slept on the couch, in case you were wondering- wasn't sure what was wrong with you, didn't want to catch it."
"I wasn't wondering," he snapped shortly from the floor of the bathroom where he was currently slumped over, as Stacy wandered over.
"Dude, what the hell is your problem? Why have you been acting like such a bitch all morning?" Stacy complained, crossing her arms defensively as she eyed him from the doorway.
Schuyler averted his eyes; he was surprised she hadn't realized what was up, she'd seen him this way often enough.
"Stacy…I got drunk last night," Schuyler spat out darkly, clenching his fists tightly; just saying those words made him feel more nauseous than the hangover itself. He recalled all the excuses and self-pity he'd had and could only shake his head. He knew so much better than that.
Starr, unsurprisingly, had nailed it; the shame he was currently experiencing was so great that it felt like it was choking him, and it only got worse at the thought of her; he was disgusted with himself for letting Starr see him like that. He recalled what he'd said to her the night they had gotten together- "I don't ever want you to see me the way I was then"- and scoffed at himself; well, great fucking job there.
What the hell was wrong with him? He did the worst thing he could imagine to push Starr away in order to protect her from him, and right as it seemed to be working, he went and relapsed, and left Starr to deal with the fallout; he must have seriously screwed with her head after everything he did last night. He could only hope Starr was so deeply ashamed of him that she tried to forget it altogether.
"Okay, so?" Stacy asked carelessly, shrugging. Schuyler glared at her, looking disgusted, and Stacy furrowed her brow in confusion. "What? You got drunk once, no big deal."
"No big deal?" Schuyler repeated slowly in disbelief, longing for Starr's fury with him right now. "It's a huge fucking deal, Stacy! Are you forgetting that I'm an addict?"
"You were an addict, one night does not make you again."
"No, Stacy, am; it doesn't stop, it doesn't go away, you just control it, and last night, I didn't," he spat, self loathing thick in his tone. Stacy just rolled her eyes.
"You can be such a drama queen, Schuy. If you want to beat yourself up, fine, whatever, I forgot that you're all noble now."
"…why I am even talking to you about this?" he muttered darkly. Stacy huffed angrily.
"Because I'm your girlfriend?"
Schuyler said nothing, biting back the urge to inform her that was only for Starr's sake; he was still aware that fact made him an asshole, and he'd been the one to go after Stacy, not the other way around- he'd brought this on himself. Besides, it wasn't Stacy's fault that she just didn't understand him, no more than it was his fault he didn't understand her.
"So, I shouldn't even be offering if you're going to be a jerk like this, but do you need me to call the school and tell them you're sick?"
Schuyler nearly said yes, but hesitated, taking a shaky breath as he recalled Starr's hurt, confused expression, her teary eyes. He didn't get to hide here like a coward after that, not when he owed her a hell of an apology and a promise to stay out of her life and never put her in a situation like that again. After his weakness and failure last night, it was time to man up and get back on track.
"No," he decided with a sigh. "I'm just going to wait as long as possible to go in."
"Okay, well, feel better. I'm heading out; I'd kiss you goodbye, but, uh, gross," she scoffed, wrinkling her nose. Schuyler felt relieved; faking his way through the physical acts with Stacy made him feel sick.
Stacy walked to the living room, gathering her jacket and keys, then grabbed her purse from the table, glancing curiously at the wrinkled papers lying there. Never one to care much about privacy, Stacy grabbed them, her eyebrows shooting up when she read the words 'Dear Schuyler'. Who the hell was writing letters she didn't know about to her boyfriend?
Stacy read on with sudden urgency, her eyes hard and angry, but she instantly relaxed, snickering when she realized it was from Starr Manning. Ah, so it was just Schuyler's little high school stalker, nothing to worry about. Stacy continued to read the letter, but now for simple amusement instead of out of possessiveness, and it was all she could do to contain her laughter; god, was this girl kidding her? She was setting some kind of world record for lack of self-awareness if she didn't comprehend was insanely creepy and pathetic this letter was. Could she possibly whine more? 'Schuyler, you broke my heart, I'm saaaad. Why don't you love meeee, wah wah. I miss you, I'm going crazy, boo hoo.' How had Schuy tolerated this shit?
With a wide grin, Stacy came up with a quick idea to start her day off with a little fun, stuffing the letter in her purse and quickly walking to the door; it seemed it was time that she met little Starr Manning face to face and made sure she understood who Schuyler belonged to.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*
"No, you know when I really should have known? When I invited her to join us on our 'Grease' night, and she said she hated that movie!"
"Langston," Starr replied listlessly from her spot on the couch, having been listening to her friend list the many various moments she should have figured out something was up with Lola for thirty minutes. "I don't think you can blame yourself for not realizing Lola is a psychotic tramp because she doesn't like musicals or something, that's not really a give away."
"It's just all of the things combined, y'know? I needed to take a step back and see the big picture, and I didn't!"
"But you have now," Starr pointed out. "That's what I keep trying to tell you, about why you should just let it go. You know everything you need to, and I mean, now that you do, the worst is over, she can't do any more damage."
"Well…okay, that might be true," Langston mused.
Starr breathed a sigh of relief, hopeful that Langston might calm down and choose to just avoid Lola.
However, it was as if Dorian somehow overheard her thoughts and decided to do the exact thing that would crush that hope, as the doors to the living room were suddenly swung open, and she came storming in, phone pressed tightly to her ear.
"Langston!" she shrieked, steam practically shooting from her ears. Starr and Langston both jumped, staring at her in shock.
"What's going o-"
"Operation Deflower?!" she cried.
The room fell deathly still as Langston slowly breathed in, her eyes growing wide and horrified.
"Oh my God," she whimpered.
"Yes, yes, thank you, Lola. I have to go now, dear," Dorian said calmly into the phone, hanging up as she gazed at Langston coldly. "My room, now," she hissed, spinning on her heel and storming out of the living room. Starr just looked to her friend in confusion.
"Langston, I don't get it, what's-"
"That bitch!" Langston screamed, clenching her fists as she jumped to her feet. "She knows she's going to die, that's the only explanation! She knows I'm going to rip her friggin head off today so she's going for broke."
"What did she do?! I'm still not following!"
Langston took a breath, her shoulders trembling, and she sat next to Starr, quickly beginning to explain, knowing she had to hurry before Dorian exploded.
"Okay, so, um, Markko and I decided that we've been together for so long, and we love each other so much, that we've really waited long enough and that it's time we finally, um, made love," Langston squeaked nervously, quickly pushing on as Starr's jaw dropped. "So we've been making the plans, getting prepared and everything, and as a stupid joke, we've been referring to the whole thing as 'Operation Deflower' and I guess Lola heard us."
"You and Markko have been…and you didn't…how could you not tell me?!" Starr spluttered in disbelief. "That's such a huge deal! You're the one who said girls have to tell each other these things!"
"I don't know!" Langston cried. "You've been so heartbroken, I just didn't want to make it worse by rubbing it in that I'm so happy. And besides," she rushed to add defensively. "You never told me about your last boyfriend at all, I had to find out by accident, so you're not exactly in a place to judge!"
"Okay, fair enough," Starr muttered. "But the first point is just dumb. Langston, you and Markko are my best friends, I love you both- you being happy makes me happy too. I don't ever want you to think I'm so selfish that you can only be happy and in love when I am, okay?"
"Okay," Langston said softly, smiling.
"Langston!" Dorian screeched from upstairs. Langston flinched, her smile instantly fading.
"Okay, I think you need to go off to your doom now, but I want details later!" Starr ordered. "Every little thing, I wanna know it all; this is big, we have to talk about it."
"Oh, thank God!" Langston sighed, grinning. "I have been dying to tell you everything, I'm ready to talk your ear off. If I make it out of this day alive and without being thrown in prison."
Starr held her hands up, showing her crossed fingers, and Langston laughed nervously, swallowing hard as she reluctantly left the room to go talk with Dorian.
Once her friend was gone, Starr leaned against the couch with a tired sigh, her face falling as her heart felt heavy; she was genuinely happy for her friends that everything was going so great for them, but it did hurt to remember that not so long ago, she'd been making plans like that, gushing over Schuyler like that, and now they were just over.
The doorbell rang a couple of minutes later, and Starr rushed to answer, grateful for the distraction from her heartache. She pulled it open with a friendly smile plastered on her face, but it instantly vanished as her eyes fell on the visitor; a certain familiar blonde woman, her usual smug little smirk on her red painted lips.
"Hey, Starr!" she greeted her with sarcastic brightness. "I don't think we've met. I'm Stacy, Schuyler's girlfriend- but then, you already knew that, Schuyler's made sure of it."
Starr swallowed roughly, her head dropping as her insides grew cold.
"What do you want, Stacy?" she muttered weakly, her voice so tired and weary that it sounded pitiful to even her. But really, Stacy had already taken back the only thing that mattered to Starr; what else could she possibly do to her?
"I wanna have a quick chat about this," Stacy snapped. Starr glanced up, and her heart plummeted to her feet as she gasped over the sight of Stacy holding up her letter.
"Oh my god," Starr whispered to herself in a panic.
"Yeah, my boyfriend showed me the little love note you left him after he found it this morning- well, I mean, when he stopped laughing."
Starr gripped the doorframe tightly, feeling sick as her head pounded; she was lying, she had to be. Would Schuyler really do that? She couldn't imagine he would, but then, she never would have imagined that he'd be capable of saying the things he had when they'd broken up, or doing what he'd done with Stacy…maybe she just didn't know him as well as she'd always convinced herself she did. The idea sent violent pains throughout her, and Starr frantically fought the urge to cry over the image of him laughing over her letter with Stacy; the other girl didn't deserve that satisfaction.
"You know, this whole desperate act of yours is just backfiring, Starr. He at least used to feel bad for you, feel guilty about hurting you, but you've pushed him way too far with this obsessive crap, and now he's just tired of it."
Starr pressed her lips together to muffle the pained noise threatening to escape her, feeling her anger building as well; what the hell was wrong with Stacy? She had won, as she was taking the opportunity to point out right now; what was the point of trampling on Starr's heart and sense of self-esteem even further? Was this just fun for Stacy?
"What, not gonna say anything?" Stacy asked when Starr gave no response, eyeing her. Starr just glared, and Stacy dramatically pouted. "Aw, am I hurting the little girl's feelings? Maybe you should have thought twice before trying to play with the big kids, sweetie- this whole ordeal seems like it messed you up pretty badly, after-all," Stacy laughed, bringing the letter up and scanning it with her eyes. "I mean, you're so depressed that you're having trouble sleeping and eating? That is so sad."
Stacy grinned in satisfaction as she saw Starr's shoulders sink even further, the light in her eyes dim even more, and began to really rub the salt in the wound, searching for sections in her letter to read out loud, making her tone simpering and whiny as she spoke.
"I never really knew what love was until we met; I thought what I had with Cole was real, until you came along and shook up my world forever, and made everyone and everything that had come before you seem so insignificant. You might be able to pretend we never happened, but you've left me unable to ever move on, because I know I could never bring myself to just settle again, not after what I felt with you, even if those feelings were never returned." Stacy glanced up, saw Starr's eyes brimming with anger tears, and smiled as she continued. "I never thought I was capable of feeling that kind of love, I'm not sure I even believed it existed. But on the same note, I never thought that I was capable of feeling so much hurt, of having my heart so completely and utterly shattered. After everything that had happened to me, I was a mess when you came along, but you helped fix me…only to break me, worse than before." Stacy scoffed, finally stopping as she rolled her eyes dismissively. "What the hell is that, Starr? For God's sake, you're seventeen, it's pathetic."
"Stacy, when you were seventeen you were obsessed with your sister's boyfriend and had been for years, even though he didn't even know your name," Starr exploded, spitting the words in disgust. "You have no room to call anyone pathetic!"
"Oh, really?" Stacy hissed, infuriated by Starr's words; she stalked closer, getting in the younger girl's face, and Starr nervously hedged backwards, quickly regretting her outburst. "I disagree, because there's a difference. Rex wanted me; he hid it, just like he still does now, but I could and can tell."
"You are still obsessed with Rex, aren't you?" Starr demanded in hot disbelief, anger twisting her insides as she realized that was the truth. Stacy had Schuyler, and she was still pining for the guy who was barely aware of her existence? Starr was pretty sure she'd never hated Stacy more than at this moment. "Oh my God! You still want him, even though you're with Schuyler!" Stacy shrugged, smirking.
"See, that's the difference between us, Starr. I mean, other than the obvious," she muttered, taking in Starr's appearance with a dismissive look. "Schuyler is my second choice. I don't even want him that badly, and yet he still loves me, he still begged me to come back to him, went crazy without me. You, on the other hand, love this guy with all your heart, you're desperate to be with him and have done everything possible to show him that…and he still doesn't want you. He still rejected you. He still thinks you're a joke."
Starr clamped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late, and the sob still tore from her lips before she could stop it, as her shoulders trembled violently. Stacy laughed, then gazed at her in mock sympathy.
"Aw, it's okay, honey, that's gotta hurt."
"Shut up, Stacy," Starr hissed, rubbing her eyes.
"You don't like hearing the truth, do you? He doesn't miss you, Starr- trust me, I make sure of that. But, did you honestly not see this coming? How long did you think someone like you was going to keep Schuyler's attention? Can you really blame the guy for losing interest?"
"Shut up, Stacy," Starr repeated darkly, a note of warning creeping into her tone.
"I mean, if you're this clingy and desperate after he threw you out on your ass, I can only imagine what you were like as a girlfriend. You can't possibly be worth all the drama your psychotic family causes, or worth him risking his job. I highly doubt you're even any good in bed. And speaking of, honestly, what kind of guy wants a girl who's so damn stupid that she gets herself pregnant and is used up by age sevent-"
Stacy never got to finish her sentence, as something inside of Starr suddenly burst, and without a single thought to it, she pulled her hand back and proceeded to slap Stacy hard across the face.
There was a loud smacking sound as Stacy's head whipped to the side from the force- so great that it stung Starr's own hand-and then the room fell silent for just a moment as Stacy clutched her cheek in shock, until there suddenly came the sound of bright laughter from behind Starr. She quickly turned her head and saw Langston, whom she hadn't even noticed coming back down the stairs thanks to Stacy, watching them with a grin lighting up her face.
More concerned with the girl at the door, Starr immediately turned back around, and saw Stacy removing her hand from her face, revealing the bright, red mark Starr had left. Stacy's eyes slowly narrowed as they burned with rage, and suddenly, just as she was opening her mouth so speak, Starr quickly ripped the letter from her hand, then flung the door shut in her face.
"Oh my God!" she wailed in pure panic, as she whipped around to face her friend. "What did I just do?!"
"Something completely awesome," Langston replied, laughing again.
"Langston…"
"Hey, y'know, I thought violence didn't solve anything."
"Langston!" Starr shrieked, wide-eyed. "She is going to totally kick my ass now!"
"No, she's not."
"I can't fight, do you realize that? I can slap people who don't see it coming, that's where my abilities end!"
"What about that incident your parents love to tell people about, when you bloodied that guy's nose-"
"You obviously missed the most important part of the story- it was kindergarten, Langston, we were 5! If we're going to look to my childhood to solve this, then why don't I just go get a snake to bite her while we're at it?!" Starr shouted sarcastically, rapidly dissolving into hysterics.
"Okay, deep breaths , just let me- wait, you got a snake to bite someone when you were a kid?"
"Uh, long story. And we kind of have a more pressing issue here!" she wailed, jumping as Stacy suddenly pounded on the door, and rang the bell repeatedly for good measure.
"You know, I could probably take her, if you want me to," Langston offered. "I am definitely pissed off enough today."
"Oh, no, you couldn't take her, trust me- she's a stripper, Langston."
"…What does that have to do with anything?!"
"Strippers are insane, and they know how to catfight like nobody's business, they have to!"
"And you know this because you've had so much experience with strippers throughout your life?"
"Open the frickin' door, Starr!" Stacy yelled from outside, pounding on it again. "If you want to start something, you better believe we're going to finish it!"
Starr just emitted a noise that could only be described as a squeak, and Langston nearly smiled as she descended the rest of the stairs, stalking to the door.
"Let me handle it, Starr."
"Okay," she agreed instantly, taking a seat on the bottom step and anxiously combing her fingers through her hair.
"Hi, Stacy!" Langston chirped, keeping the door shut.
"Who the hell is this?"
"Someone who knows what an evil hag you are, that's all you really need to know. Now, Stacy, did you forget that it's garbage collection day? Just go sit on the curb with the rest of the trash, and someone will be here to pick you up shortly."
"You little bitch, I'm going to-"
"Stacy, I'm calling security and telling them to get rid of the hooker someone sent to our house as a prank, you should probably go now."
"I should have known better than to expect a couple of spoiled little rich girls to solve their own problems!" Stacy snapped.
"Yeah, I guess you should have. Oh well, stupid you!" Langston calmly shot back in a breezy tone. "Stace, are you a big dog person? I only ask because the security team has a few rotw-"
"I'm going!" Stacy shouted irritably. "Tell Starr she got really lucky this time."
Langston watched through the peephole, and sighed in relief when she saw that Stacy really was walking away. She looked back at the stairs, surprised Starr hadn't said a word or even laughed once throughout all of that, and saw that her friend was hugging her knees tightly to her chest, her head buried against them.
"Starr?"
"Girls?"
Both girls' heads snapped up at the sound of Blair's voice, and Langston winced at the sight of Starr's bloodshot eyes, before turning her attention to Blair, currently standing in the doorway of the living room and gazing at them in confusion.
"Langston, did I just hear you threaten a hooker to get her off our lawn?"
"Um…close enough," Langston answered, shrugging. Blair cocked an eyebrow.
"Is this something I need to know about?"
"I don't think so."
"Something I want to know about?"
"Probably not."
"…carry on," she sighed, leaving the room. Langston grinned as she took a seat by Starr.
"I think I kind of love your mom." Starr barely seemed to notice her presence, continuing to just stare blankly into space. "Hey, Starr, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle. "What did she say to you?"
Starr bit her lip, shaking her head as the tears pierced her eyes against her will, and weakly crumpled against Langston's side as she cried; Langston just hugged her friend tightly, and gently pried away the papers in her hand, wondering what they were. Langston nearly groaned when she it was Starr's letter to Schuyler and realized Stacy must have been the one to find it, and grit her teeth in frustration. Schuyler might think he was protecting Starr with this whole mess, but truth was, he was absolutely destroying her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Were it not for knowing who she was going to have to face there, Starr might have breathed a sigh of relief over reaching the last class of the day; she'd managed to keep Langston away from Lola so far today, and it certainly hadn't been easy- she just had one more class to go, and then she could hopefully get her friend home without incident.
Starr took a deep breath, hovering by the doorway as Langston watched her in confusion. All day, Starr had been worrying about the possibility that Stacy had immediately gone running off to Schuyler after their confrontation and made it sound like it was all her fault; if she had, she was certain Schuyler would immediately take Stacy's side and believe her over Starr.
If he had another little 'talk' with her, told her she needed to get over her obsession with him and leave Stacy alone because it wasn't Stacy's fault he loved her, Starr was going to lose her freaking mind, she could not handle that.
"Are you feeling alright, Mr. J?" Starr heard one of the other students ask as they approached the room. "You're not looking so hot."
"I'm fine," Schuyler assured his students. "I just, uh…" Schuyler hesitated uncomfortably for a moment as Starr came into the room. She looked up at him against her own will, and their eyes met for just a moment before Starr quickly looked away. Schuyler swallowed roughly and continued. "Had a bit of a cold last night, it's already passing."
Starr nervously bit her lip, watching Schuyler carefully when she was certain that he wasn't looking her way; she really hoped last night had been a one time mistake. No matter how much he didn't want her, Starr knew she would never be able to just accept Schuyler falling back into his old ways, and she would do whatever it took to stop him if she thought he was, but she didn't exactly enjoy the possibility of forcing her presence on a guy who wanted nothing to do with her. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to.
Starr noticed Schuyler cradling his head, flinching as the bell rang to announce the beginning of class- he really did look like total crap, she had to admit. Well, good, he deserved it for last night.
Class managed to go by fairly uneventfully, though Starr was highly uncomfortable with the fact that instead of avoiding looking anywhere in her general direction, Schuyler had practically stared at her the entire time. She couldn't bring herself to look back long enough to judge his expression- was it because Stacy really had already gotten to him and he was upset with her? Along with sorrow, Starr felt a healthy dose of anger over that possibility; she'd always been on Schuyler's side, even against her best friend and her own father. How could he turn on her so easily?
Starr had worked herself up into a near frenzy with all her brooding by the time the bell rang and quickly rose from her seat, ready to grab Langston and storm away to the car.
"Starr!" Schuyler blurted out quickly; Starr froze, taking a deep breath. He hadn't called her Ms. Manning.
"Yes?" she asked slowly.
"May I, uh, speak with you for a moment?"
Starr hesitated; she'd been dreading him saying that, and yet…he didn't sound angry, or defensive, but nervous- about as nervous as she felt. What did that mean?
"Um, okay," she blurted out, starting to walk over to him. "Langston, I'll just be a minute…" Starr began, slowly trailing off when she saw that her friend was already gone. Why would she just run off like th- oh, damn it! "Crap!" Starr gasped, cradling her head. "Um, I'm sorry, Sch- Mr. J- I have to go," she said quickly, spinning on her heel and rushing off. She was torn between relief and disappointment over the missed opportunity with him.
"Starr, do you know what Langston's doing?" Markko stopped her near the doorway, appearing lost. "She said she was busy today and just, like, rushed off."
"Oh, ummm…" Starr stalled, searching for the best answer. Should she tell Markko the truth? He could help stop the girls…but, then again, his presence would also remind Langston exactly what she was pissed off about, and remind Lola what she'd been fighting for. Okay, best he didn't know. "It's, uh, just girl stuff, nothing very interesting, but no boys allowed. I don't want to keep her waiting, so I should really go too, bye!" she said quickly, dashing from the room and hurrying off down the halls, to where she knew Lola's last class was.
She finally caught sight of Langston when they were almost there, and sped up, still trailing a few feet behind her; geez, Langston was fast when she was pissed.
"Langston!" she hissed, trying not to call any attention to them from students at their lockers, or anybody left in the classrooms. "Langston, will you just stop?! I'll say it again, this won't solve anything!"
"You know what, Starr, maybe it won't, but it's gonna feel really damn good either way, that's enough for me!" Langston called over her shoulder.
They rounded the last corner, and saw Lola gathering her books from her locker; Starr sighed- well, at least she was alone.
"Lola!" Langston snapped, storming over until she was only steps away from her cousin. Starr dashed over and planted herself at her friend's side. "Did you really think you were going to be able to just hide from me after what you did? What you tried to do?"
"Look, Langston, it's not my fault your boyfriend's a scumbag who wants your cousin too!" Lola cried dramatically, looking quite emotional over this; Starr raised her eyebrows. Wow, she was quite an actress. She reminded her a lot of Stacy, actually. "If you want to let that cheater off the hook and turn on your family instead, that's your problem!"
"Oh, please, Lola!" Langston shrieked. Starr swallowed nervously, glancing around at all the other students watching them, snickering, whispering to each other. Wonderful- because the student body here didn't hate her and Langston enough or think they were big enough freaks already. "You may share my blood, but you're not family- family does not do this to each other, family doesn't manipulate and betray and stab each other in the back! This is my family," she snapped, motioning to Starr. "Not you. You could have been, I wanted you to be, but not anymore, not after what you did."
"Oh, she's your family? She and Markko are why you're turning on me! Markko's reasons are obvious, and Starr's jealous of our friendship, she just wants-"
"We have no friendship! And how can you stand here, look me in the eyes, and just keep lying?! You are a sociopath, you realize that?"
"Okay, you don't wanna be mature and talk it out? Fine, whatever. You are a bitch, you realize that?"
Langston laughed darkly, sarcastically, for a moment, then suddenly, so quickly that Starr and Lola never saw it coming, clenched her fist and punched Lola in the face. Starr gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, as Lola slammed back into the locker wall, shrieking and cradling her nose.
"Oh, God," Starr moaned anxiously as the noise level from the crowd picked up significantly, and a lot of 'oooh' ing and laughter began. They were starting to crowd around, just waiting for the show to really begin. Starr was pretty sure she'd even just seen a couple of guys run off to tell people about the 'fight.' "Alright, Langston, there you go, you got what you came for, let's go."
Langston had no chance to react to that suggestion, as Lola suddenly lunged forward and returned the blow; Langston, however, did not have the moment of stunned silence that her cousin had, and she instantly shoved Lola in return. Immediately, everything seemed to go to hell, as both girls got locked in a struggle, falling to the floor as they kicked, scratched, pulled hair, screaming hysterically at each other, their words unintelligible.
"Hey, guys!" Starr shouted, nervously dodging as they rolled around by her feet. Their onlookers had gone crazy at this point, hooting and hollering, crowding around for a better look, even placing bets, and Starr had to raise her voice. "Guys, knock it off! There are better ways to deal with this! You should just- hey!" Starr shrieked as they collided with her legs and she fell to the ground, hard, getting pulled into the scuffle.
Meanwhile, as this chaos was going on, Cole was blissfully unaware of it all, down at the hall by his own locker, but that was not going to last very long.
"Hey, Thornhart." Cole glanced up, hearing some kid he didn't recognize who had just shown up a moment ago, and had been snickering over something with his friend, call his name.
"What?"
"What are you still doing here? I can't believe you're not rooting your ex on or something."
"Rooting my…what the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. Both guys laughed.
"You didn't hear? Starr and Langston are having this huge fight with Langston's hot cousin- I think someone had already drawn blood by the time I left to tell Trey here about it."
"Damn it," Cole groaned in worry. "Where are they?"
"Right outside Mr. Gracin's class."
"Thanks," he said shortly, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and rushing off.
Right as Cole turned the corner before the final hall, he very nearly smacked right into someone, and glanced up to apologize, only to find himself face to face with Joplin. Both of their faces were hard and angry, Cole furious with the older man for destroying Starr's heart after Cole had walked away for the sake of her happiness, Schuyler under the impression that Cole had taken advantage of Starr after the break-up.
"You heard about the fight?" Cole finally asked simply, his voice cold.
"Yeah."
"Well, let's go."
Both men hurried off, and Cole's jaw nearly dropped when they got there.
"Holy crap," he blurted out. He'd been expecting to see a minor slap fight going on, with maybe a few students milling around and watching, not for the three girls to be rolling on the floor in a tangle, surrounded by a total circus.
"Break it up, girls, now!" Mr. Travers shouted, appearing at the other end of the hall, fighting his way through the crowd.
"And all of you, leave, now!" Schuyler ordered the spectators in his 'authoritative teacher' tone. "This is not a show, people!"
They finally managed to reach the trio, and Schuyler instantly swooped down and managed to fish Starr out of the mess, pulling her up and back by her arms. Mr. Travers got hold of Lola, Cole quickly managed to grab Langston, yanking her to him with his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. Starr instantly went silent and limp in Schuyler's arms, just breathing heavily and shaking, not trying to get away (Schuyler didn't seem to notice, though, and continued to hold her to his chest, his hands on her arms), but Langston and Lola continued screaming and flailing, trying to fight off Cole and Travers, still trying to lunge for each other.
"Langston!" Cole snapped, struggling to keep his hold on her. "Hey, Langston, will you just- Langston, knock it off! Hey, psycho," he finally hissed in her ear. "You're making it worse; you wanna be in detention for your entire senior year?"
She finally seemed to hear him, and stopped fighting and making any noise, causing Lola to do the same. All three girls were panting as the guys gazed at them in shock, taking in their scratches and bruises. Starr nervously glanced around, but saw that at least everyone had shuffled off when the teachers had shown up, leaving their little group alone.
"Girls? Would you mind telling us just what you were thinking?" Mr. Travers demanded. There was only silence in response. "No? Well, that's too bad, I guess I'm just gonna have to take you to VP Dickinson and let her sort it out!"
"Wait!" Langston said quickly, sighing. "Starr didn't have anything to do with this. She was trying to stop the fight and just kind of…literally got dragged in. She shouldn't be punished."
Mr. Travers shot a questioning look to Lola, who reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Very well. Starr, Mr. Joplin will make sure you get cleaned up and then you're free to go. You two, however, are coming with me to the principal's office."
"If I let go, are you gonna divebomb her?" Cole muttered to Langston, who rolled her eyes and glared at him.
"Shut up."
"Langston, I think you broke her nose- I'm seriously not letting go until I'm positive you're not going to murder someone. I'm like, scared of you now," he muttered playfully, succeeding in making her relax slightly, and nearly smile.
"No murders for now."
He let go, and Langston shook herself off, taking a deep breath. Schuyler finally seemed to realize what he was doing and released Starr. The two friends walked a few steps away to talk for a moment, as Mr. Travers waited impatiently.
"I'll see you at home, Starr- I have a feeling you shouldn't wait for me. I'm really sorry," she sighed guiltily. Starr shrugged.
"What are friends for if not to back you up in a catfight?" Langston laughed slightly, and Starr forced herself to smile despite how tense she still felt. "I have to say, we kind of suck, though. It was two against one, and we were still losing."
"Yeah, I don't think we're cut out for this," she mumbled, pressing her fingers to her already swelling eye, and flinched.
"Good luck, Lang."
"Thanks, Starr, for everything."
Starr smiled supportively once more, and Langston turned to walk back to the teacher and Lola; Cole lightly hummed the funeral march as she passed, and Langston resisted the urge to punch his arm- more violence was not going to make her look great right now.
The three of them disappeared down the halls, leaving Starr and her two exes in an uncomfortable, awkward silence, as Schuyler stared at Starr, Cole glared at Schuyler, and Starr kept her eyes on her shoes.
"Okay, um…thanks, guys," she finally sighed, nervously fussing with her hair. "I guess I should probably just go-"
"Starr, you're bleeding," Schuyler told her gently.
"What?" she asked, startled. She brushed her fingers across the side of her forehead, and sure enough, there was blood on her fingertips when she pulled back. "Oh, huh. That girl's fingernails are like claws," Starr muttered, shaking her head. "Uh, that's alright, it doesn't even hurt, I'll just-"
"Starr, please just let me take care of it," Schuyler interrupted, his tone almost pleading.
Starr appeared startled, and slowly just nodded, too exhausted to pretend she didn't want to take him up on the offer. Schuyler guided her away to his classroom, leaving Cole staring after them with a downcast gaze.
"Just, uh, have a seat," Schuyler said quietly when they got to the classroom, nodding to his desk.
Starr climbed onto the edge, anxiously fiddling with her hands as she took a deep breath; being alone with him had somehow gone from being the easiest thing in the world to the hardest.
Schuyler fished the first aid kit they kept in the classroom out from under the small sink in the corner, and wet a cloth, walking back over to Starr. He hesitated for a moment, then gently brushed her hair back out of her face, his hand lingering for a moment. Starr shut her eyes, inhaling sharply as she desperately fought to ignore that, to pretend she felt as little as he did.
"Starr," Schuyler began hesitantly as he dabbed the cloth against the cut on her head. "I asked to talk to you earlier because…because I just wanted to apologize for last night."
"Schuyler, no," Starr instantly protested, her voice on the verge of panic. She could not handle getting into this with him right now, she didn't have the strength to keep her walls up, not after everything that happened today. "You don't have to apologize to-"
"Yes, I do. It's the least of what I owe you, and I-"
"You owe me nothing," she snapped, flinching. She hated the thought of him feeling indebted to his little stalker; she sure as hell didn't want him giving her the time of day again out of some sense of obligation- that was worse than being ignored. "Apologize to yourself, you owed yourself better than that."
"You're right," he said softly, lightly wiping the cut with cleansing alcohol. He tried not to smile; Starr's anger was a breath of fresh air after Stacy's attempt to make excuses for him- it was exactly what he needed. "But I never should have put you in that position, it's inexcusable," he continued, his voice thick with guilt and shame. "And I'm just…extremely sorry, and I can promise you that it'll never happen again."
"It won't happen again around me, or it won't happen at all?" she demanded, arching an eyebrow.
"It's not going to happen at all, Starr," he said instantly, his voice firm and intense. "You were right; I could not have been more ashamed or disgusted with myself, and I'm not going to make the same mistake twice, please believe me." Schuyler paused, realizing what he'd said, and laughed darkly at himself, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I have no right to ask you that. Why would you after last night?"
"Schuyler, no, I do believe you," Starr said softly. "One night doesn't erase everything that came before it. Just don't ever do it again, or I might have to beat you up, okay?"
'Okay," he chuckled as he grabbed a bandaid from the box, before looking up at her with a warm gaze, that momentarily left her breathless. "Hey, Starr, thank you for being mad at me."
"Uh…you're welcome?"
There was a moment of silence as Schuyler applied the bandage, his thumb lightly brushing across her skin, and Starr struggled not to blush.
"So, speaking of beating people up," Schuyler began, chuckling again as he closed the first-aid kit. "I didn't realize that was what 'girl stuff' meant."
"Okay, in my defense, I didn't leave with the intention of beating anyone up, I was trying to stop the fight and it just…didn't work out that way," she laughed.
"A convenient story," Schuyler remarked, his heart lightened that they were actually joking around and laughing together.
"Maybe I am just more violent than I realized," she giggled. "I mean, twice in one day…" Starr slowly trailed off, her face falling as the words escaped her before she could think better of it.
"Wait, what? Twice in one day?" Schuyler repeated, frowning deeply. "Starr, what are you talking about?"
"Nothing," she muttered, hopping down from the desk as Stacy's words began to ring in her ears, almost deafening her to anything Schuyler was saying.
"Starr, you're upset," Schuyler sighed. "It obviously can't be nothing. Why won't-"
"It's none of your business," Starr snapped, abruptly storming from the room before he could see the tears in her eyes.
Starr frantically rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes, taking short, gasping breaths; for a minute there, she had let herself get too comfortable with him, laugh and talk so easily, and it had made it hurt all that much worse when reality came back in, when she remembered that Schuyler wanted nothing to do with her, that he loved that horrible woman, that he was going to hate her as soon as Stacy told him what had happened.
Starr was in such a rush to get away that she failed to notice Cole, still lingering in the halls, watch her go, his jaw setting with determination as he did so, an idea starting to form.
When Langston was finally released after what felt like an eternity, she wandered out of the school and was surprised by the sight of Cole, apparently waiting for her.
"Cole? Hey, what's up, what are you still doing here?" she asked tiredly.
"I needed to talk to you. Look, Langston, I just saw Starr, and yet again, Joplin left her a crying mess, and I'm sick of this crap. Why are we just sitting back and letting this happen? Tonight, I say you and I go to his place, and we fix this."